These
are some of my horses, and this is "our" mountain, where we
go barefoot trail riding.

We are situated at Mount Samson, which is about forty-five kilometers northwest of Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, the Sunshine State of Australia.

I
would like to welcome you to the Hoofworks site and let you know a bit
about the way I think about Horses, Horse Owners, and Hoofcare.

I
like to think about hoofcare the same way as I think about cleaning my
teeth and looking after my finger nails or toe nails.

When
we were young, our parents taught us to clean our own teeth and clean
and cut our own fingernails. These things just became a normal part of
our life.

Of
course, if we need to, we go to the dentist sometimes, or on special occasions
we may have someone else do a manicure or pedicure on our nails. If we
have an ingrown toenail or an infection under a nail, we may seek professional
assistance.

But
we have learned to take responsibility for caring for our own personal
grooming and hygiene.

I
believe that caring for our horses' feet should be quite similar.

We
may choose to have a professional do some, or all, of our hoofcare, we
may choose to do some, or all, of it our self, but as owners we
should be responsible to make sure that our horses' feet
are kept as healthy and sound as possible.

In
my opinion, that means, not nailing metal shoes onto a living creature
but rather trimming the hoofs to keep the best, most functional shape,
and looking to see the hoof respond by becoming strong and healthy enough
to allow the horse to perform at the required level, without any extra
protection.

Of
course, if it is necessary, we may use removable "Hoof Boots" to protect
the hoof during the transition to barefoot and on any occasion when the
amount of abrasion or damage could be greater than the condition of the
hoof can withstand.

In
the area where I live most horses can effectively make the transition
to barefoot without the need for any extra protection and those that do
need boots usually find that they are rarely used after six months or
so. In other areas or with particular horses this may not be the case
and it may be necessary to use boots a lot more or for much longer, however
in the end the Barefoot horses will be sounder and healthier than those
using metal shoes.

Here
are a few of my thoughts about Barefooting:

Barefooting
is not just taking the shoes off.
It is not less work.

It is not a
magic "cure-all" for all hoof problems.
It is not going to put your farrier out of work. (It may make him /
her richer.)

Barefooting
takes care and commitment.
It will make your horse healthier, sounder,
perform better, have less pain and live longer.
It will save you a lot of money if you are
prepared to do some, or all, of the work yourself.
It will reduce (or remove) the cost (and pain)
of a lot of degenerative lower limb disease and lameness.

Your horse will thank you.

Peter

Answers
for Your Questions

If
you would like to ask brief, general questions you can email us HERE

We give brief responses to any question at no charge.

Although we will normally answer within
two working days, we may be a little longer, especially if we are away from
the office for training

Interactive
teaching CD

This is our very popular Interactive Teaching CD and you can purchase it online
now

We can also help you with specific advice on hoofcare, wherever you are.

You
will need to post or E-mail several good quality photos of the horse and
the particular hoof. Please e-mail your questions first so we can
let you know how to take, and send, suitable photos. We
may request a photo from a particular angle, or a particular resolution
email picture.

We
will post or email you "marked-up" copies of your photos and
our recommendations of the type of trimming that is required. We
expect that you will keep us informed of the progress, even if you don't
follow our suggestions and that you will allow Hoofworks to use the pictures
for our teaching material.

This
service is offered as advice only and cannot be construed as a substitute
for a professional consultation.

We
charge for this service at
Aus$15.00 per quarter hour for our time spent answering your questions.
In most cases we can advise on trimming one foot, or a fairly similar
matched pair of front, or rear feet, in half an hour or less. We
will charge your credit card when we send you our recomendations.

There
is no charge,
if we cannot answer your specific query, or if we need to refer you to
someone else to get the appropriate answer to your question.

We
will not offer advice on any matter which is related to disease, pathological
deformity or internal trauma, which should be treated by your veterinarian.

We
will offer advice on Natural Hoofcare, which is considered to be "preventive
care" and not the practice of veterinary medicine.